Hundreds of guests have embarked on a special tour of the Shandong in Hong Kong, getting a rare chance to explore the Chinese 70,000-tonne aircraft carrier and its fleet.

China’s first home-grown aircraft carrier arrived in the city on Thursday for a five-day port call, accompanied by missile destroyers Yanan and Zhanjiang, and the missile frigate Yuncheng, as well as a dozen advanced J-15 carrier fighters and helicopters.

Students and their adult companions, including visitors from across the border and Macau, gathered in Mei Foo and Central on Friday to catch connecting shuttles to get aboard the warships docked on Stonecutters Island and at the western anchorage of Victoria Harbour.

Among those queuing were students from Ilha Verde Secondary School of the Macau Commercial Association, who crossed the border in the morning.

“We are very honoured as we are among the only three schools from Macau which have this opportunity,” teacher Lai Heng-na said. “Through this trip, we hope to let students see what an aircraft carrier really looks like and improve their sense of belonging to the country.”

She also said that the students were especially excited to see the fighter jets.